Unanimously regarded as one of Britain's finest directors, STEPHEN FREARS (Director) has always embraced a wide variety of
styles, themes and genres. He made his name in TV drama, working almost exclusively for the small screen in the
first 15 years of his career. In the mid-1980s he turned to the cinema, shooting THE HIT (1984), starring Terence
Stamp, John Hurt and Tim Roth. The following year he made MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE for Channel 4, which
crossed over to big-screen audiences and altered the course of his career. After directing its companion piece
SAMMY AND ROSIE GET LAID and the Joe Orton biopic PRICK UP YOUR EARS, he began working in Hollywood, with
DANGEROUS LIAISONS and THE GRIFTERS (for which he was Oscar-nominated) among his most notable titles.

Returning closer to home, he directed THE SNAPPER and THE VAN, two Irish films based on Roddy Doyle stories
and after a second spell of making American films (THE HI-LO COUNTRY and HIGH FIDELITY) based himself largely
in Britain. Frears showed his versatility with two vastly different movies - DIRTY PRETTY THINGS, a realistic account
of immigrant life in London, and MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS, a nostalgic backstage comedy-drama. For his 2006
film THE QUEEN he was again nominated for an Oscar. His subsequent films include CHERI and TAMARA DREWE.
His MUHAMMAD ALI'S GREATEST FIGHT, produced by HBO, an account of the 1970 Supreme Court hearings to
determine the fate of the champion boxer after he refused to serve in Vietnam, was screened Out of Competition
this year at the Cannes Film Festival.